Fellowship Named in Honor of Accounting Professor

May 14, 2019

The Robins School of Business has established the University of Richmond Accounting Fellowship in honor of Joe Ben Hoyle, associate professor of accounting. Hoyle will hold the fellowship until his retirement, at which time it will assume his name as the Joe Ben Hoyle Teaching Fellowship.

Hoyle has taught at University of Richmond since 1979, and has been recognized for his teaching as a recipient of the American Accounting Association/J. Michael and Mary Anne Cook/Deloitte Foundation Prize, the foremost recognition of an individual who consistently demonstrates the attributes of a superior teacher in the discipline of accounting. Bloomberg Businessweek has also twice named him one of America’s favorite undergraduate business professors.

“Joe Ben Hoyle is simply the best accounting teacher in the world and has the honors and student and alumni support to prove it,” said Nancy Bagranoff, dean of the Robins School. “I do not know anyone who is more thoughtful or intentional about their teaching.”

“I appreciate this recognition deeply,” Hoyle said. “During my 48 years in the classroom, I have had the good fortune of working with thousands of fascinating students who have responded with serious thought to my many strange and complicated questions. When it works, education is like a dance where the teacher and students come together to create something that is truly beautiful.”

Heather Rice, partner at KPMG and chair of the Robins School’s Accounting Advisory Board, led the effort to fund the fellowship. “Professor Joe Ben has impacted, empowered, supported, challenged, and loved every student he has ever taught. If you ask any of his students, both past and present, the stories of his impact will be different, but they will also end with the same conclusion: Hoyle was the best teacher I ever had and changed my life for the better. The board felt it was the most important thing we could do — create a legacy that will honor this amazing man, professor, husband, dad, colleague, and friend.”